Head of Customer Strategic Relationships

Tiaki Wai; Lower Hutt; Hybrid; NZD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working up to 2 days fromHome

Wellbeing programme

Professional development opportunities

5 weeks annual leave after 2 years

Job summary

Tiaki Wai is seeking an experienced strategic leader to establish and lead the Strategic Customer Relationships function from its Petone base. You will shape how Tiaki Wai engages councils and major customers, guiding account planning, issue resolution and service design to inform long-term planning.

Reporting to the Chief Customer Officer, you will build partnerships, manage risks, and drive a customer-centric operating model across a new function, while ensuring delivery remains with

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading strategic relationship, stakeholder engagement or key account functions within a complex organisation.
• Strong understanding of local government, governance processes and customer-focused service delivery.
• Experience managing high-value commercial, institutional, or public-sector customer relationships.
• Proven success leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Appreciation of te ao Māori and commitment to partnerships with mana whenua.

Responsibilities

• Lead Tiaki Wai's Strategic Customer Relationships function and its team.
• Develop a coordinated relationship model providing a single front door for customers and councils.
• Oversee strategic account planning and escalation pathways.
• Act as trusted advisor to senior leaders, council executives and key customers.

Skills

Strategic relationship leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Team leadership

Local government knowledge

Job description

• Lead Tiaki Wai's key customer partnerships

• Help shape the future of water services

• Based in Petone

This is a full time position of 40 hours per week

The opportunity

We're looking for an experienced and strategic leader to establish and lead our Strategic Customer Relationships function. Reporting to the Chief Customer Officer, you will lead a team responsible for Tiaki Wai's most important relationships, including shareholding councils and our highest-value commercial, institutional, trade waste and development customers.

You will create a coordinated relationship model that provides a single front door for customers and councils, oversees strategic account planning, and manages issue resolution and escalation pathways. Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, council executives and key customers, you will ensure customer insights inform investment, service design and long-term planning, while supporting the transition of key customer-facing services into Tiaki Wai.

Success in this role will come from building strong partnerships, proactively managing risks and opportunities, and ensuring Tiaki Wai is easy to work with. While the role provides leadership and coordination across strategic relationships, accountability for strategy, decisions and delivery remains with the relevant operational leaders.

This is a rare opportunity to build a new function from the ground up, influence the future direction of a critical public service, and make a lasting impact on communities across the Wellington metropolitan area.

About you

You're a senior relationship leader who thrives in complex environments and can confidently engage with council executives, senior stakeholders, commercial leaders and community partners. You understand the dynamics of local government and the needs of major customers, and you know how to balance multiple perspectives while maintaining focus on long-term outcomes.

To be successful, you'll bring:

• Significant experience leading strategic relationship, stakeholder engagement or key account functions within a complex organisation.

• A strong understanding of local government, governance processes and customer-focused service delivery.

• Experience managing high-value commercial, institutional or public-sector customer relationships.

• Proven success leading and developing high-performing teams

• An appreciation of te ao Māori and a commitment to building meaningful partnerships with mana whenua.

Benefits

At Tiaki Wai, our purpose extends beyond delivering great water services for the region; we foster a thriving community, support a diverse workforce, and offer supportive development opportunities. We genuinely care about your safety and wellbeing.

Our benefits include:

• Flexible working arrangements including up to 2 days working from home

• Comprehensive wellbeing programme, including one paid wellbeing day annually

• Formal and informal professional development opportunities

• 5 weeks annual leave accrual will be available following 2 years of continual service

For a full list of our employee benefits click here.

About us

Tiaki Wai is a council-owned organisation responsible for managing the delivery of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services across Hutt Valley, Porirua, and Wellington.

We manage public-owned extensive water infrastructure and oversee the delivery of safe and reliable services for our communities. We focus on long-term investment, asset management, maintenance, and delivering major infrastructure projects that support public health, environmental protection, and regional growth.

Water is a precious taonga. At Tiaki Wai, we put care into every drop and are guided by our values of Integrity, Care, and Leadership. We work directly with water consumers and in partnership with councils and mana whenua to deliver better water outcomes for current and future generations.

Applications close: Thursday, 29 October

Applicants for safety sensitive roles will be required to undergo drug and alcohol testing prior to commencing employment with Tiaki Wai. You must also be legally entitled to work long-term in New Zealand or eligible to obtain a working visa.